Despite the majority of rules being agreed upon in December, Member States are concluding negotiations to weaken the law
We published an open letter deploring the attempt by the Council of the EU to exclude human rights, including disability rights, from the Due Diligence Directive during its final negotiating phase.
The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive would force businesses to ensure their supply chain respects a series of human rights treaties, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities being one of them. However, the Council of the EU is trying to weaken the need to respect human rights by removing mentions of several human rights treaties – including the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities – from an annexe in the Directive and relegating them to a vague and fleeting mention in a Recital.
This is unacceptable. Persons with disabilities and other marginalised groups are disproportionately impacted by unfair employment practices and exploitation.
The letter calls on the European Parliament and EU Member States to uphold the original agreement and keep human rights treaties, especially the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, in the relevant annex;
Yannis Vardakastanis, President of the European Disability Forum, stated:
“This is an outrageous attempt to keep us underemployed and vulnerable to exploitative practices from companies. This will reinforce the widespread segregation and violations of our rights to fair work and pay, violations that include being paid under minimum wage and denied basic workers’ rights.”